My Official Stance on the Nate McLouth Trade

It was almost like a dream last night. I logged onto Facebook and saw one of my friends posting something about the Pirates trading Nate McLouth. I quickly went to my source for news and comments on the Pirates and within 2 hours, the message board topic was 10 pages long and growing ever so quickly. I never expected to be reading news like this...at least not at this point in time.

This morning, it has sunk in that Nate McLouth, the new face of the franchise, is gone. An autographed baseball, an All-Star Bobblehead, autographed bat, and signed painting. All will now be collectors items of one of the core players signed to a long term contract earlier this year. Will Paul Maholm and Ryan Doumit face a similar fate?

While I'm disappointed that McLouth is gone, I have to agree with a lot of comments I've read. He is not, and should not, be the type of player you build a team around. Pedro Alvarez is (hopefully). Nate McLouth, while very good, is at best a complimentary piece to a successful club.

This very well could be the final straw though for fans. They are sick of seeing the same thing happen over and over again. Good players traded for unproved prospects. I really believe that attendance will take a serious blow from this, in the long term.

Fans will be excited to see Andrew McCutchen get his first MLB start today. I hope, for his sake and the sake of the front office, that he does well today. I will be there and I hope to have pictures to post on here later tonight. Once the initial excitment of McCutchen wears off, the attendance will drop off and anger will grow. Unless, of course, the Buccos win. In which case, this will be viewed by the casual fan as a good thing.

As was said last year so many times...only time will tell.

I'll be at the game, sitting in 138. As with Jason Bay, I hope Nate tears it up in ATL, unless they are playing the Pirates of course.

Lets Go Bucs. Lets Go McCutch.

The Great Nate Contract

Well well well....

It came down to the eleventh hour today, but Nate McLouth and the Pittsburgh Pirates reached a very nice three-year deal, with a club option for a fourth year. Knowing that McLouth was going to be a necessary center-piece to the future of this team...maybe keystone would have been a better term...or corner stone.

Anyhow, McLouth will be vital to this team's success in the upcoming years, as long as he can put up similar or better numbers to those of last year. I think most fans would be pleased with a .276/25+ HR/90+ RBI season which included a Gold Glove and All-Star appearance. And for a guaranteed $15.75 million over three years, it could be a worthwhile expense. With bonuses, there is the potential for $27 million over three years. As with some of the other players recently signed to long-term deals, I hope McLouth doesn't crap the bed and go on the DL for three months.

I'm not going to pass judgment on whether or not this was a great signing until I see some results from McLouth. I know that I am personally hoping that he puts up some great numbers so the baseball and bat that I have signed by him will be worth something some day.

I would also like to add that, from a PR standpoint, this was a great move by the front office.

In other news...

There was a package on some ABC News show tonight featuring Rinku and Dinesh being the first ever India baseball players signed to a contract by a major league team. It was a good piece even though its all stuff we already know. I don't know if I'm just buying into the hype, but I feel like at least one of these guys will make it big.

I honestly don't find too much exciting about the start of Spring Training, so for the next 7-8 days, my posts may be limited. Once we get into more game action, then I'll be excited.

Lets Go Bucs!
Vote for Romulo!

Back to Baseball

There is no question in my mind that Pedro Alvarez is going to be the most watched player in Spring Training.

Is it because he was the big name first round draft pick from last year? No.

Is it because he is the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates? No.

It's because "El Gordo", as some have come to refer to him as, showed up to mini-camp last month large and in charge. Alvarez irked many in Pirate nation when he showed up out of shape and obviously packing a few extra pounds. And given the contract fiasco of last summer, it's going to take a lot of time Alvarez to fall into the good graces of fans here. There is no doubt in my mind that when he does finally make it to PNC Park, there will be a smattering of boos from the fans when his name is first announced. Many will call him a "cancer". Ol' Pedro has been tagged as a stand-up kid from humble beginnings. Alvarez will need to prove himself as a leader in the clubhouse. He will need to put up ridiculous numbers in his rookie year just to win fans over. Even then, the most cynical of fans will say it was beginners luck. I would not want to be in Pedro Alvarez's shoes the first time he walks onto the field at PNC Park. The magnifying glass will be on him so intensely that he may end up burning like an ant under the hot summer sun.

Moving on...

In an article posted on pirates.com yesterday, Nate McLouth believes that as his agent and the Pirates talk, it is possible for arbitration hearings to be avoided before the scheduled date of February 17th, which is this coming Tuesday. It's not going to happen. Nate McLouth will be the only one of the six Pirates players that will head into his arbitration hearing. McLouth's performance last year was just too good for his agent to agree to what the Pirates have offered Nate the Great. Unlike some players (Jack Wilson & Adam LaRoche) who have fallen out of good graces with many Pirate fans, McLouth is seen as a vital part of the future of this team. He will not be hated by the fans for this sort of thing. With McLouth ready to play an entire season in CF this year, don't expect his numbers to fall off like they did at the end of last season. I'll predict a 30 HR year and another All-Star game for Nate.

Let's Go Bucs!
Vote for Romulo!

As Expected, Pirates Hinske/Maholm Inks Deal

As I predicted, Paul Maholm and the Pirates have agreed to a multi-year deal earlier this morning. According to Dejan, this is a three year deal, with a club option for a fourth year. This will secure Maholm through all three years of arbitration plus his first year of free agency. No monetary figures have been released as of tonight. Those should be available following a physical and the official contract signing. I'm still predicting that Nate McLouth will head to an arbitration hearing on the 17th of February.

Also, as expected, Eric Hinske was signed this morning to a one year deal. As with Maholm, Hinske will need to complete a physical before the t's are crossed and i's are dotted. A total cost has not been released, however the base salary is believed to be around $1.5 million. There could be as much as $1 million in performance bonuses.

In my opinion, these were two pretty important signings today.

Good bye Doug.

Let's Go Bucs!

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photo credits: Eric Hinske - www.soxnest.com, Paul Maholm - AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

McLouth & Maholm Arbitration

It was announced yesterday that Paul Maholm and Nate McLouth will head to arbitration hearings in February on the 10th and 17th respectively.

Given Maholm's strong performances over the past year and a half, I expect him to win his case, if the two sides don't reach an agreement by then. However, I expect that these two sides will come to some sort of agreement prior to that. I'm expecting a multi-year deal worth somewhere between 9-13 million dollars. Maholm is the kind of pitcher that will be a leader, through his actions more so than his words, and will be important to the stability of the pitching rotation in the next couple of years.

I expect Nate McLouth to head to his hearing on the 17th. The fact that McLouth is a Gold Glove All-Star, I don't expect to see these two sides reach an agreement. As several others have stated on message boards and blogs, McLouth will probably be offered a standard 1 year deal for the 3.8 million he is asking for.

If that is the case for McLouth, look for guys like Brandon Moss, Jose Tabata, Nyjer Morgan, and Steve Pearce to be front runners in filling out the outfield in 2010.

Let's Go Bucs!

New Uniforms and More

The much anticipated new jerseys were revealed today at PiratesFest, and I must say that I am meeting them with mixed emotions. Let's take a look at this picture, and I will simply move from left to right with commentary on each jersey.



I'll start with last year's lone Pirate All-Star, Nate McLouth. Nate was able to shine on the national stage in last year's All-Star game. Unfortuniately, he seems to be lacking an All-Star look in this new solid black jersey. The button up jersey features a gold "P" over the left chest and the player number on the lower right side of the jersey. HATE IT! I say get ride of these things and bring back the red jerseys.

Moving on. Our next model is Matt Capps, superstar closer and all around swell guy. He is wearing the pin stripes with the vest jersey and t-shirt under it. This is the look the Pirates have had for the past several years. Since I've had season tickets, I've seen these jerseys worn mostly on Sunday afternoon games. I like it, it's in.

Next is Mr. Nyjer Morgan. As you can see, Nyjer is sporting a solid gray away uniform. It's a mix of the old unis from around 1990 which had the cursive "Pittsburgh" across the chest and the recent away jeresys. They have had the gray look for about two decades now, but the 1990's is the most recent I can remember. I like it, it's in.

Finally, there is the 2006 NL Batting Champion Freddy Sanchez. He is sporting a uniform simlar to that of Nyjer, only in white, and it says "Pirates" across the chest. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but I'll end the uniform discussion with an I like it, it's in.

It looks like "Mr. Almost Perfect" Jeff Karstens will be sitting out the first week or so of Spring Training. Due to some elbow soreness from minicamp a few weeks back, Karstens was shut down for a few days, and it looks like the Pirates will be taking it easy on him for the start of training. All the better in my opinion. There is no need to rush him. We've seen that he has potential to be good (held opponents scoreless through his first 15 innings last year). I'm looking forward to big things from this kid in the upcoming season.

I'll be back tomorrow with more musings. Look for my PiratesFest update on Sunday.

Let's Go Bucs

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photo credit: Players modeling new uniforms. pirates.com